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FamilySurah 17 · Al-IsraAyah 17:243 min read

Kindness to Parents

Lower to them the wing of humility — the Qur'an's tender image for how grown children should carry their aging parents.

Qur'anic Reference \u00b7 Al-Isra 17:24

وَاخْفِضْ لَهُمَا جَنَاحَ الذُّلِّ مِنَ الرَّحْمَةِ وَقُل رَّبِّ ارْحَمْهُمَا كَمَا رَبَّيَانِي صَغِيرًا

English Translation

\u201cAnd lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy, and say: 'My Lord, have mercy upon them as they raised me when I was small.'\u201d

Bengali Translation

\u201cআর মমতাবশে তাদের জন্য নম্রতার ডানা নত করে দাও এবং বলো: 'হে আমার প্রতিপালক, তাদের প্রতি দয়া করো, যেমন শৈশবে তারা আমাকে লালন-পালন করেছেন।'\u201d

The moral, reflection, and application sections below are educational guidance inspired by the cited verse — they are not a translation or an authoritative tafsir.

Primary Moral

Repay your parents' years of care with gentleness now — and with du'a always.

Why This Matters

No one sacrificed for us more silently, and no one is easier to take for granted. The Qur'an places kindness to parents immediately after worship of Allah — a ranking that tells us exactly how heavy this duty weighs.

Reflection

A bird lowers its wing to shelter its young; the Qur'an reverses the image — now it is the grown child who spreads a wing of gentleness over aging parents. The du'a that follows anchors it in memory: 'as they raised me when I was small.' Their patience with our childhood is the measure of the patience we now owe them.

Real-Life Application

Call or sit with your parents today with no agenda and no phone in hand. Ask about one story from their youth you have never heard. And make the ayah's du'a for them tonight, in your own language, by name.

Reflection Question

In tone and patience, do you speak to your parents better or worse than you speak to your colleagues?

Action for Today

Do one act of service for a parent today that they usually do for themselves.

Category

Family

Keywords

  • parents
  • birr
  • family
  • mercy
  • humility
  • dua

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